


A Family Christmas

by nihonlove



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alpha Castiel, Alpha Sam, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Break Up, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Claire Novak's Parents, Christmas, Dysfunctional Family, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Mpreg, Omega Chuck, Omega Dean, Omega Gabriel, Past Gabriel/Kali (Supernatural), Past Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Pregnant Dean, Relationship Problems, Toddler Claire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 07:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5530652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nihonlove/pseuds/nihonlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Castiel are preparing for Christmas with their young daughter, Claire. However, because Dean is expecting a second child, Castiel thinks it best to have his father around to help. Dean wouldn't mind it so much if the man could stay away from alcohol. And then there is the matter of their broken-hearted brothers, who need a place to stay for Christmas, too...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Family Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my friend MashiarasDream for beta-reading and discussion.
> 
> Merry Christmas to all of you!

It was in the first days of December, in the evening when Claire had already been put to bed, that Castiel, over two mugs of hot chocolate, said: “Dean, I don’t think we should spend Christmas at home this year.”

Dean forcefully swallowed the hot drink in his mouth, thankfully not shocked enough to accidentally choke on it, though it came pretty damn close. “What? Why?”

“I think you know.” Castiel said, stepping around the counter they were standing on opposite sides of, currently, in their tidy kitchen. He came over to Dean, coming into his space and putting the hand not holding a mug on the left side of Dean’s abdomen. There was a bit of a swell to be detected there, underneath the soft material of the shirt Dean tended to sleep in. It still wasn’t prominent enough that it couldn’t be covered up with clothes or wouldn’t be mistaken for fat, but the change in Dean’s scent wasn’t so easy to mask without raising any suspicions. And Castiel knew Dean’s scent better and more intimately than probably anyone. “Christmas can be a lot of work, especially since we have a toddler around. I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

Dean let out a long breath. He had never liked being coddled just because he was an Omega, but when he was pregnant it seemed like that was what everyone on the planet wanted to do. Sometimes it was nice, especially when he got offered free pie at diners, but when it went on and on no matter how much he tried to reason with his loved ones that he was fine dammit, it required some patience from him. Still, at least it was easier to accept protectiveness from Cas than anyone else, whether that be a mate thing or just the fact that he trusted Cas the most in the world. And Cas usually also listened when Dean asked him to back off and let Dean handle things.

“Cas, it’s fine. Isn’t having Christmas together with your child a part of the experience? And it’s not like Claire’s that much of a bother.”

“She isn’t, indeed, but you must admit she’s energetic. I know you’ve been weary already when she’s been home from kindergarten, but closer to Christmas she will be home even more and there will be more to do and likely her excitement will make her even more energetic. I just don’t want you to push yourself to your limits for no reason.”

“You’ll be here to help though, won’t you?”

“Later in the day, yes, but not all day. I...” Castiel lowered his gaze, his voice softening to a mumble and his scent gaining sorrowful and guilty tones. “I was told today that I...I may have to work overtime in December in exchange for having the holidays off. Christmas is a busy season for everyone, accountants included.”

Dean frowned at that. “That sucks.” He had been hoping they could enjoy the weeks leading up to Christmas together as a family. “But I guess that’s better than you having to work over the holidays.”

“Yes, but surely you see now...I may not be able to be here to help you prepare for Christmas or look after Claire. You would have to do it all by yourself and I don’t like the idea of that.”

“We can always ask Charlie to babysit and help out if it gets too much.” Dean said, but knew that was a long shot at best. By the look Castiel gave him, he knew it too. “Yeah okay.” Charlie had her own stuff to take care of before the holidays, and besides, she was planning on visiting her long-distance girlfriend for Christmas and wouldn’t be around towards the end. Why did Sammy have to be so far away in California when he was needed?

“What do you want to do then?” Dean queried with a sigh. It wasn’t like he couldn’t hear Cas out, right? Even if he might disagree, they could negotiate further on this if Dean knew what he had in mind. After all, wasn’t that one of the best parts of their relationship? They could talk and negotiate and give each other advice when they were fumbling, but neither of them expected the other to just go along with what one of them wanted purely because they thought it the best. They always listened to one another’s opinions and respected them, but neither was expected to always agree with the other.

Castiel put his mug down, taking a deep breath. Dean could tell by that and by the nervousness in Castiel’s scent that whatever his mate had in mind likely wouldn’t sit too well with him. And that’s why he was pretty much able to guess what he was going to say before he actually said it: “I’d like us to go and spend Christmas at my parents’ house.”

Dean was hardly able to keep in a groan. It sucked to be right sometimes. “Cas...”

“Please hear me out, Dean. I just feel like it would be best for everyone involved. You wouldn’t be responsible for preparing for Christmas because we would be spending it elsewhere and once we got there my father could look after Claire when you would need some time to yourself. And…”

“Your father wouldn’t be alone over the holidays.” Dean sighed. “Cas, I get it, I do. I know you’re worried about your Dad, but I think you’re making things out to be better than we can realistically expect them to be. Remember what happened when we spent Christmas with your folks two years ago?”

Cas winced slightly, his scent still guilty, effectively telling Dean that he did remember and didn’t have a very good counter-argument for this. “It might not be like that this year...”

Dean sighed, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Cas, I’m not saying this stuff to be deliberately cruel. I like Chuck well enough when he’s sober, but the truth of the matter is that he is a drunk. And there will be plenty of drinks available if we spend Christmas with your folks, and I don’t want to expose Claire to that. Again.”

It wasn’t that Dean was judging Chuck Novak, Cas’ Omega Dad, for turning to alcohol. Cas had told him that Chuck had been married off to his Alpha Mother, Naomi, at the age of only 17, and had his first child within a year of their marriage. Afterwards, Chuck had spent the next 24 years giving birth, nursing and raising his four boys (three Alphas and one Omega), of whom Castiel was the youngest. But then, when his boys had all eventually left the nest, Chuck had fallen into something akin to depression, no longer knowing what do with himself or his life. Since he had been a teenager, the only thing he had been was an Omega parent caring for his pups, and he hadn’t had the chance to really build himself an identity outside of that. Sometime after, he had began to try and seek comfort at the bottom of a bottle.

It didn’t help that Naomi wasn’t what anyone would call a caring Alpha. Dean had only met her on a handful of occasions, but those had been more than enough. He knew her to be a cold, calculating woman who looked out for herself before anyone or anything else. It was quite obvious that there was no love between her and Chuck, though Dean couldn’t be sure if that had always been the case or if they had simply slowly grown to resent each other. What he did know, however, was that Cas had always been adamant that his father had been the one who had raised him, and that his mother had had very little to do with him and his brothers growing up, at least where it didn’t have anything to do with grooming them to be the perfect little Alphas, or introducing them to Naomi’s business partners and their compatible children.

Which was why Cas tended to worry about his father deeply. He called him at least once a week, hoping and trying to cheer him up and wished he could visit him more often. Dean knew they had been close when Cas had been growing up, alike in temperament and personality, and that in certain ways Castiel felt both indebted to him and guilty over what had happened to his father due to the marriage that had brought him to such a state but out of which Castiel had been born. Up until a few years ago, he and Dean had even agreed to spend their Christmases together with their respective families so that Cas could go home at least once a year to see Chuck (mostly it otherwise was Chuck who visited Cas), but since Claire had come into their lives, that had no longer been an option. They had indeed spent the Christmas following Claire’s birth with Castiel’s parents. For a while it had seemed to be going well.

But then on Boxing Day, Dean and Cas had went out for a bit and left Claire to Chuck’s care, wanting to take advantage of the freely available babysitter. There hadn’t seemed to be anything wrong with that when they’d gone, as Chuck had kept sober all throughout their visit, doting on his son and granddaughter and seemingly full of joy to have so much life in the huge house he and Naomi lived in for once. But then, by the time they’d come back from their date, Chuck had drank himself to sleep and Claire had been crying alone in her crib.

So no. Dean wasn’t going to trust Chuck to look after his daughter again. True, he pitied Chuck and even understood him to an extent, and he knew that Cas still had difficulty seeing Chuck as what he had become in his later years rather than as the beloved father who had raised him and his brothers almost single-handedly, but he wouldn’t risk his child being exposed to her drunken grandfather. During that earlier incident Claire had been young enough to not remember it afterwards, but by now she might be old enough to sense and smell that something was wrong and be uncomfortable or scared. And Dean knew firsthand how scary it was when you didn’t understand why the adult who was supposed to be responsible for you smelled, walked and talked funny and slept all through dinnertime.

Cas sighed in return, sadness, fear and worry mixing in his scent. “I know you’re not trying to be cruel and are just looking out for Claire’s best interests, but…” He frowned. “My mother is going to be on a business trip all through the holidays and although it is partly probably a relief for my father, I don’t want him to be all by himself on Christmas.” Dean wasn’t sure if that was just a general statement because being alone on Christmas sucked or if Cas was worried that Chuck being alone was going to mean that he was just going to drink all throughout the holidays.

And because Dean was an awesome husband who always tried to think about compromises and wanted to make Cas as happy as he could, he thought it over for a moment, before an idea came to him: “Ask Chuck to come here for Christmas instead. He can sleep in the spare bedroom. He can help me with preparations and spend time with Claire, and since he will be under our roof, we can monitor how much he drinks. We’ll keep the liquor cabinet locked and check that he doesn’t bring his own drinks. You can even tell him that he’s welcome only as long as he stays sober.”

At his words, it seemed as if Castiel’s entire face lit up and his blue eyes became lighter in that way that they always did when he was happy and that Dean loved. His scent was all sweetness with love and joy in a way that likely made Dean’s own scent respond in like. He’d be embarrassed, but Dean had always been more affectionate when pregnant. “I’ll call him in the morning and ask him.” Then he leant over and gave Dean a nice, long kiss, the kind that always got Dean going. And to be honest, with the newest pup inside of him, it wasn’t hard to get him going these days anyway. Kind of defeated the purpose to be horny when the end result had already been reached, but no matter. The other pup was asleep, they had the house to themselves...

As Cas pulled back, Dean could see that he had smelled the state Dean was getting into, as his nostrils kept moving and his pupils became dilated. Dean just gave him a smirk (the one he knew always got _Cas_ going), winked at him and began heading towards their bedroom.

It was awesome what compromises gave him in return sometimes.

...

Cas did indeed call his father the following day and then informed both Dean and Claire that Chuck would be more than happy to come. Claire, who adored her Grandpapa who read her stories and got her presents and Skyped with her, was ecstatic. Dean only hoped this wouldn’t turn into a disaster and that Chuck could keep the promise Cas assured him he had made about staying sober so long as he was staying under their roof. He would hate to make good on his own threats and have to send Chuck away if he broke his promise, if only because it would make his daughter unhappy. He knew that Claire’s presence in the past years had been good for Chuck, and he hadn’t drunk when she was around aside from that one time (which was why he had continued to allow Chuck to interact with his granddaughter, although supervised), but he knew, again, firsthand that when alcoholics got desperate for a drink, they wouldn’t really be thinking sensibly or about the effect them drinking might have on the people close to them. All they were thinking about was how to get that drink.

The next week and a half went by rather uneventfully. They baked Christmas cookies, made and wrote cards and Dean helped Claire write down her Christmas wishes for “Santa”. He and Cas were able to leave her with Charlie one Saturday to go shopping for some of those wishes. With Dean working as a mechanic and Cas working as an accountant, they didn’t have a whole lot of money, but they always made sure Claire got decent Christmases and birthdays as far as presents were concerned. Castiel also wanted to avoid spoiling her too much, though Dean wouldn’t have minded. He liked the idea of his pups having everything they wanted, but this was another way for him to compromise. And yeah, maybe it would sort of be bad if Claire grew up into a brat who never relented until she got her way.

Dean had to admit that he was sort of looking forward to Chuck arriving and giving him an extra pair of hands with Claire, though. He loved his daughter to bits, but it turned out that Cas had had a point; the pregnancy did make him more tired. Cas had been able to help for some of it and Claire got to spend some of her seemingly boundless energy in kindergarten, but the spirit of the season was making her excitable and a bit of a handful to be honest, and it was all beginning to wear on Dean.

It was on the afternoon on the tenth day of this that Dean got a phone call. He raised an eyebrow at the caller ID, because although it was by no means unwelcome, they usually spoke on Saturdays. He just hoped it didn’t mean anything bad that he was calling on a Tuesday.

“Hello, Sammy?” He answered the call, going for nonchalant.

“Dean...” Wow, okay, not so good then. Sam almost sounded like he’d been crying, or like he had a really bad cold. His voice was hoarse and he sniffled a couple of times over the line.

“Sam, what’s wrong?” Dean said, becoming more serious. Sam may have been the more emotionally open brother out of the two of them, but if he was calling him after or in the middle of crying or being sick, something had to be seriously wrong. “What happened? Is someone hurt? Dead?”

“No, no, nothing so serious as that...” Sam mumbled over the line, sniffling again and sounding like he was clearing his throat. When he spoke again, he sounded slightly more composed: “Me and Jess...we...”

Oh shit. “Sam, did you guys break up?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t really know. She just sat me down yesterday and said that she’s not sure about us being together anymore, and that she wants some time apart to think stuff over...I mean, I know things have been feeling a little off between her and me lately but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“Sammy, I’m sorry. That sucks. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“That’s why I’m calling. You know we were gonna go spend the holidays with Jess’ folks, right? Well, that’s kind of off the table for me right now.”

“Come over.” Dean immediately said. “I’ll talk it over with Cas, we’ll get both you and Chuck situated somehow.”

“You sure? Cas won’t mind?”

“He likes you, you know that. If I explain the situation, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Cas did understand, and they agreed that Chuck would stay in the guest bedroom (the pull-out couch was bad for his back) and Sam would sleep in the living room, even though the pull-out bed might be a bit short on him. Sam swore he didn’t mind, since he was the uninvited, more sudden guest. Plus he was the younger one, and didn’t have back problems.

Dean was actually sort of happy. It might be nice to have more family over for the holidays, to cook for a bigger crowd, to be able to catch up with his brother and have more hands to help with cleaning and Claire.

...

Castiel Winchester was by no means a man who lived for his job. He’d become an accountant because he was good with numbers and it was therefore work that he could do. Due to his family’s considerable wealth, he really could have become anything he wanted in life, but he was fairly certain he had always known it wasn’t work where he’d find satisfaction in life. He had begun to realise that on a more conscious level by the time he had met Dean while in college. Castiel didn’t particularly like his job, but he didn’t hate it, either. It just wasn’t his calling. Truth to be told, he was fairly sure as far as jobs went, he didn’t really have a calling. No, his calling was elsewhere, and at the centre of it was his family. It was because of his family that Cas found the strength to go to work every day, do what he was supposed to do and then come back home in time for dinner.

It was at home where Castiel felt like he was truly doing something meaningful with his life. It was where he could see his daughter grow and nurture and teach her, as well as care for and cherish his mate. That was where Castiel most enjoyed being, and what he most enjoyed doing.

Truly, he had always been quite family-oriented and therefore had also tried to keep in touch with and keep up relationships with the family he had been born into. However, at a certain point he had had to admit to himself that doing that was causing both himself and his new family more harm than good. He had never been close to his Alpha Mother, who had barely seemed to care for her children at all, unless they grew up to become exactly as she had planned. Castiel had never fit into that mold, always too close with his Omega Dad instead, liking solitude and not being very ambitious. His childhood had always been much happier during the times she wasn’t around or interfering with his life. Those times he could just forget she existed and the disappointment that he was to her, and simply find validation and love in his father, who had always told Cas that he could be whatever he wanted to be, that all that mattered to his father was that he was happy.

Eventually, Castiel had had to cut his mother mostly out of his life. He had already been knowing he would eventually have to do it by the time he and Dean had begun dating, but had been putting it off. Her insulting Dean due to his lower social standing and accusing him for being a bad influence on Castiel, since Cas had refused to come work for the family business after college, had been the final nail in the coffin. Nowadays, he only saw his mother when he went to visit his father and those times they didn’t speak much aside from the occasional polite small talk. This was one of the reasons Chuck tended to visit them in Illinois instead. It also gave him an excuse to be out of the big empty house he and Naomi inhabited. It was also largely due to this that Castiel had taken Dean’s name when they’d eventually married. He’d never particularly felt like a Novak, and had no longer wanted to be associated with that name so intimately. Besides, it was a bit of a statement to his Mother about how much he cared about what she thought about his relationship.

Another reason he had cut off his mother was the way he now understood she was with his father. She wasn’t physically abusive, as far as he knew, but she was incredibly condescending and belittling in her manner of acting towards Chuck, and clearly hadn’t expected anything more from him in their arranged relationship than for him to bear and then raise their mutual children to the Alpha men she had wanted them to become. He couldn’t remember ever seeing any true tenderness between the two of them and couldn’t ever imagine them being the way he and Dean were together, sharing everything and openly showing affection.

He also wasn’t the only one who had noticed that. His second oldest brother Luke, who was quite equally devoted to Chuck as Castiel was, had fought with their oldest brother Michael and their mother over that, trying to get Chuck to leave Naomi and come live with him until he found his footing. Michael, who had always followed in Naomi’s footsteps the most out of all of them, likely due to the extra attention paid to him in their childhood thanks to him being the oldest and therefore the likeliest one to inherit the business after Naomi (he had, indeed, begun to work under their mother straight out of college). Castiel had been getting ready to go and support Luke (the two of them may have had their differences, but they both cared for their father and wanted to see him away from their mother, so it seemed a time as good as any to come to a consensus with his brother). But before he had actually been able to leave, he had got a phone call from Michael saying that Luke had gone home and their father wouldn’t be going anywhere after all.

Of course Castiel hadn’t just accepted this as a fact and had attempted to call Luke to find out what had gone wrong. Luke hadn’t answered. A few days later, when he had figured the coast to be clear enough, he had called his father. He had told him that he hadn’t seen or heard from Luke and that he hadn’t arrived at their designated meeting place. Chuck had had no idea what had happened to his second oldest, but he and Castiel both had known Michael’s presence in the scheme of things couldn’t have been a coincidence. They still didn’t know where Luke was, or if he was even alive. Castiel had, perhaps against proper reason, a hard time believing Michael had killed Luke, or even had him killed. Despite their growing conflict in their adult years due to their differences in values and views becoming more and more evident and Michael seeing Luke as a rival as the head of the family business (despite the fact that Luke had always had very little interest in that), they had been very close as children. Quite similar to how Castiel had been with his youngest older brother Gabriel actually; different in personality, but in a way that made them complement one another. He thought it more likely that either Michael was keeping Luke somewhere or Luke himself had hidden away for his and their father’s safety. Still, now wary of his oldest brother, Castiel had also cut him out of his life.

In any case, Luke’s sudden disappearance trying to help Chuck had scared the poor Omega to going back to Naomi and denying Castiel’s offered help for a second escape attempt. And although Castiel pitied his father and hated the idea of him being stuck in an unhappy marriage and an empty mansion, drinking to forget all that and to just find some notion of peace, he couldn’t help him. Not really. Chuck had to want that for himself and to actually hope to escape and have a happier life, before anyone could truly help him.

Still, he was Castiel’s father, whom he loved and who had taken care of him, and now needed to be cared for in return. Therefore Cas wanted to do what he could for him, such as allow him to be near both himself and his daughter, whom he knew Chuck loved perhaps beyond anyone else in the world. But he also understood Dean’s point of view regarding leaving Chuck alone with Claire. Claire was only a toddler after all and shouldn’t have to worry about adult issues for years yet. So he was happy with what he could get, and to be honest, having his father over at their house rather than going to him, was probably the better option of the two. Having Dean’s brother Sam over also shouldn’t be a problem, as Sam was kind and polite to everyone and never meant anyone any harm. Besides, there was no way Castiel would forbid him to come for a visit at a time when Sam so desperately needed to be with family.

He was looking quite forward to all of that actually, when a little less than a week before Christmas he got a phone call.

Claire was already in bed and he and Dean were cuddling on the couch while watching some romantic holiday season movie. Cas took his phone in his hand from where it was sitting on the coffee table and, looking at the caller ID, sighed.

“I’ll be right back,” he mumbled, getting up with his phone and walking into the kitchen. No reason for Dean to miss the movie by having to listen to Casiel talk about his dysfunctional family with... “Hello, Gabriel.”

_“Hey bro! How’s it hanging?”_ Castiel’s youngest brother’s voice rang across the communication device. Cas sighed again. Although Gabriel was the brother he had always been closest to, their personalities were different enough that sometimes it took a bit out of Cas to deal with him.

“Well enough, I suppose. Somewhat busy,” he told Gabriel, before getting to the point: “But I am sure you didn’t call this late to talk about how I am.”

He heard his brother snort over the line. _“I guess you know me well enough to know better, yeah.”_ Gabriel paused. _“I talked to Dad. He says he’s coming over to your place for the holidays?”_

“Yes, he’ll be coming the day after tomorrow, actually.”

_“Smart. He’ll have company but it’s your house so you and Dean-o will set the rules.”_ He seemed to take in a breath. _“I’m calling to ask if I could come, too? I’ve checked, I can even get on the same flight as Dad.”_

Cas raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were going to spend the holidays with Kali?”

_“Yeah, about that...”_ Now it was Gabriel’s turn to sigh. _“I think that’s pretty much over.”_

“Oh. I’m sorry.” And Cas really was. He had always hoped Gabe would find happiness, and when he and Kali had passed the one-year-mark two years ago with no sight of problems in their relationship, he had thought that that would be it. That Gabriel had finally found what Castiel had already discovered in Dean years ago. It was true that Kali had been a tad too proud for his tastes, but he had liked her fine and would have been content to leave his Omega brother’s happiness in her hands. To hear that is was over so suddenly was more than concerning. “May I ask what happened?”

“ _Oh, this and that. Our relationship had been having problems for a while, but I guess we were both trying to ignore them. This past year we’ve both kind of just thrown ourselves into our work rather than one another, trying to make it work by spending some time apart, but that just made things worse I think. And, well...”_ He laughed, but it was a sad laugh, a wet laugh, and Castiel wondered if his brother was crying. He knew Gabriel wouldn’t want him to know if he was, so he said nothing and kept listening. Still, Gabriel’s voice stayed steady as he talked. _“She says I have commitment issues and I say she has control issues and we fought about it, and...that was it. It’s just not gonna work in the long run.”_

“Gabe, I am sorry. That’s terrible.”

_“Yeah, well, it is what it is. This is just life I guess.”_ There was a moment’s pause. _“So, can I come over for the holidays? I feel like I need to get out of town for a while, and to be with family. Which these days is pretty much you and your family, and Dad. And you’ll all be at one place on Christmas, so...”_

Castiel gulped. He didn’t want to turn Gabriel away at such a time, but... “Dean’s brother Sam will also be coming. I fear we may not have the means to accommodate all three of you at our house-”

_“Relax, baby bro, I’ll stay at a hotel. I’ve already found one that looks decent enough. I wasn’t even planning on staying at your place to be honest. Don’t take this the wrong way; I love Claire more than I love any child anywhere, but I’d prefer not to have to be woken up at seven on Christmas morning by a toddler to open the presents, thanks.”_

Castiel had to chuckle a little at that. It was more than likely that that was exactly what would happen. “In that case, I think you can come. I’ll talk to Dean, and I’ll call you back, all right?”

_“Sure, whatever. I’ll be waiting.”_

With that, Castiel hung up and went back to the living room to his mate. Fittingly, the movie  was apparently on commercial break.

“Who was that on the phone?” Dean queried, munching on a Christmas cookie.

“Gabe. I’m afraid he has recently had his heart broken, and he wishes to come over for the holidays. He’d be sleeping over at a hotel, so we won’t need to worry about having enough room.”

Dean sighed, running a hand over his face, his scent sadder than he probably wished for Castiel to smell. “What is it with our brothers having love trouble so close to the holidays?”

“Do you mind if he comes over?”

“No, Cas, of course not. He’s your brother. How is this different from me asking Sam to come over because he’s having romantic troubles? And if he’s not gonna be staying at the house, who am I to stop him from coming over to dinner? At least we’ll have less turkey leftovers. But tell him that he’ll need to help with dinner, since he’s pretty much the only one of our guests who can cook well.”

“All right.” Cas said with a smile, leaning over to kiss Dean. “Thank you.”

...

The day after the next, Castiel and Dean, as well as Claire, drove to the airport to fetch both Castiel’s father and brother. Claire kept chattering through the whole journey about everything she was gonna do with Grandpapa and Uncle Gabe over Christmas. However, her excitement seemed to tire her out because by the time they arrived at the airport she seemed sleepy and a little out of it, so Castiel had to carry her. Not that he really minded. To him she was light and he always enjoyed having her close like this, where he could smell her flowery, sunshiney scent.

Still, when her, and Castiel’s noses picked up the scent of their relatives in the air close by, Claire seemed to perk up again and wanted to be put on the ground, rushing towards Chuck and Gabriel, both carrying a few pieces of luggage.

“Grandpapa! Uncle Gabe!”

Chuck’s bearded face spread into a smile as he crouched to catch his granddaughter and lift her into his arms, spinning her around a few times. To Castiel’s relief, he looked relatively well. Weary, as always perhaps, but even most of that seemed to fade in the presence of Claire. His scent was also fresher and cleaner, indicating that he had been sober for some time, perhaps practising in order to be able to stay clear of any alcohol during his visit.

“Hello, little princess.” He mumbled into Claire’s tiny shoulder, squeezing her tight and giving her a kiss on the head. “Hey, Cas.” He said as Castiel approached the two of them. Dean was trailing behind them, to give them some privacy in these first few moments after having not seen each other for a while.

“Hello, Dad.” Cas smiled, leaning down to kiss his father’s cheek. “Hello, Gabriel.”

“Hey, bro. How’s it hanging?” Gabriel grinned. He didn’t seem to be doing all that badly, smiling and looking relaxed rather than heartbroken, but Castiel knew his brother better than most people. It was difficult to tell by his scent alone as Gabriel had always favored using at least some mild form of scent-blocking, but it had always been one of Gabriel’s defense tactics against being hurt to portray a cheerful front and acting like he didn’t care about anything much. If he was reverting back to that tactic, it meant he was probably seriously hurting. Still, trying to make him take off the mask forcibly had always only managed to make him push down his emotions even further, so Castiel knew better than to probe. When Gabe was ready to talk about his issues, he would come to Castiel on his own.

Just then, Dean caught up with the rest of them. “Hey, Chuck, Gabriel. Welcome.”

“We’re happy to be here.” Chuck mumbled, but barely took his eyes off Claire, as if to signify why he was so glad and grateful to have been invited to their home. The air was a bit awkward, as it tended to be when Dean was in the same room with Chuck, but to both their credits they didn’t show any open animosity towards one another. That Dean was willing to tolerate Chuck for Castiel’s and Claire’s sake meant a lot to Cas, and he made a mental note to let Dean know that, once they were alone.

“Hey, Dean-o!” Gabriel greeted with a wave and a grin. “So, how about we blow this joint so Dad can get situated at your place and I can get some beauty sleep at the hotel?”

“Is that all of your luggage?” Castiel asked. At the following nods, the group headed out of the airport. Gabriel took a cab to the hotel so that the Winchester family Prius wouldn’t become too crowded and because he was headed in different direction, but he reassured them that he’d be over in time to help make dinner.

...

The rest of the day went by relatively uneventfully. Dean kept Chuck and Claire in his line of sight, but left most of the baby-sitting to his father-in-law, as Castiel had requested. After all, that was why Chuck was here, right? So that Dean could take it a little easier. So Dean sat around in the living room, watching TV while Chuck and Claire played not too far away. Cas had had to go back to work. Dean even fell asleep for a moment and woke with a start, fearing he would wake up to something horrific having happened, but he only found Claire asleep in her bed for her own nap and Chuck unpacking in the guest bedroom. Dean left silently, not making a big deal of his freak-out. He didn’t want there to be too much tension in his house between him and Chuck, for everyone’s, but especially Cas’ and Claire’s sake.

Gabriel indeed came around a few hours before dinner and offered to cook for all of them. Dean offered to help quite a few times, but Gabriel insisted that he was happy to get to cook for a bigger crowd once in a while, so Dean settled into his role of simply pointing out where everything was located in their kitchen.

They had a good meal, during which Dean mostly focused on cutting Claire’s food into small pieces that she could eat so that he could avoid talking. The family surrounding him still had much to talk about and catch up on, and to be honest Dean felt a little left out. But he could deal with it. He could. He had Cas every day of the year, he could afford to share him with his family. Besides, Sammy would arrive in a few days and then it would be Dean who would ignore everyone else (except maybe his sweet daughter) to catch up with his own brother.

After dinner, Gabriel went back to his hotel and Chuck offered to help Dean clean up while Castiel put Claire to bed. He wanted to spend some time alone with his daughter after a day at the office, so neither Dean nor Chuck made a big deal out of it. Still, it was kind of awkward standing in the kitchen alone, washing dishes with the one person you had been trying to avoid directly talking to all day.

The silence stretched on, until Chuck turned to Dean, sighed and opened his mouth, his scent displaying his nervousness: “Dean, I just want to say I really am grateful that you’re allowing me to stay here over the holidays. I know it is not easy for you.”

Dean sighed, too, before answering: “Look, Chuck, I don’t dislike you on the principle of the thing or whatever. Hell, I get that you’re probably a good person - you raised Cas after all, you can’t be all bad - who is stuck in a shitty situation. And I get the appeal of the bottle.” Dean had been heading down that road once, himself, and he certainly had seen what it had done to his own father years back. “But you drank in Claire’s presence, when we trusted her to be safe with you. She was just a newborn. Now she’s a toddler. She can’t be expected to look after herself or after you if you fail to look after her. I get that you’re having a hard time, but I don’t want Claire, or Cas for that matter, to suffer because of that. They don’t deserve to become collateral damage to your issues.”

Chuck’s eyes looked a little misty at what Dean had said, and his scent also became sad and regretful, but Dean wouldn’t regret his words. Chuck needed to hear them, needed to see what his alcoholism was doing to his family. If people were going to sidestep the problem every time, it would never get better. And Dean truly did want Chuck to get better, for both his daughter’s and his mate’s sake.

“I know.” Chuck mumbled, sniffing weakly. “I’ll never forgive myself for that day, and I don’t expect you to forgive me either, Dean. I know I put Claire in danger and I can only thank the Lord she was not hurt. But I want you to know that she, and Cas and all my children are the reason I don’t drink myself into oblivion. And seeing Claire and being with her here, I am happy. I don’t need to drink. I want to be a part of her life. That’s all I ask of you.”

“And I don’t want to take her away from you, and I couldn’t stop Cas from seeing you even if I wanted to - he’s a grown man and makes his own decisions. But right now I can’t trust you with Claire either, not completely.”

“I get that, and for causing that kind of mistrust between us, I am sorry. I am trying to get better, but...”

“Yeah. Like I said, I get it. Naomi isn’t the most supportive person with stuff like that.”

“I feel like she sucks the life out of me.” Chuck said to that, his voice defeated but his scent turning bitter, angry and sad at the same time. “Every time I feel like I’m doing alright, she says something and I can feel my resolve going away. It feels like there is no point in trying to stay sober when she sees me doomed to failure in any case. I...” He took a deep breath. “I struggled with that even when the boys were still young and living at home, but they gave me the strength to not drink. I knew if I wasn’t there to care for and love them, no one would be.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “I thought you had nannies? At least, Cas said you did.”

“We did, yes, but they were there only part-time. Naomi expected me to raise her sons, so I was offered minimal help, even though there were four of them and they were all so young. Of course, there were also private tutors later, but I don’t think any of them really grew attached to my children. They just looked after and taught them because it was their job. So I tried to care for them as much as I could by myself, since it often felt like I was the only one who really loved them.”

Castiel had often said that out of all parental figures, his father had been the only one to truly care, so this seemed like a reasonable assumption on Chuck’s part, too.

“Did you ever love her? Naomi, I mean.” Dean queried softly.

“No, I don’t think so. Lord knows I tried. But she’s never been good to me, not in the way you and Cas are good for each other.” Chuck then looked Dean right in the eye, sad still, but also grateful. “I’m glad he has you. He was such a soft-hearted, affectionate child. I would’ve hated him to end up on his own. I’m glad you’re here to be his support.”

Dean shrugged. “He’s my support, too. It’s not a one-way street.”

Chuck smiled then, but it was a sad, teary-eyed smile, and he smelt a little bit like salted caramel; sad and happy at the same time. “I am glad. It must be wonderful.”

Before Dean could answer anything to that, Castiel came back into the room.

Dean offered to finish up the dishes by himself so Cas could have some time alone with his father for a bit. Dean, when he was done, found himself rather tired, so he simply checked up on Claire, making sure she was sleeping peacefully, and then headed to shower, to brush his teeth and get to bed. He wasn’t too sleepy however, so he decided to read for a while.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, so engrossed was he in his Vonnegut, but after a while he heard soft voices speaking in the hallway before Castiel came into their bedroom.

“Hey,” Dean mumbled, putting his book down on his lap. “Did you and your Dad have a good talk?”

“I suppose so,” Cas said as he went over to their closet to hang up his day clothes (he was always so precise about not getting wrinkles in them). “He told me about your talk.”

Dean puffed out air. “How did it make you feel?”

“Dean,” Cas said, his voice and face equally serious. “If you think I am angry with you, let me assure you that I am not. You’re not wrong in what you said, and I would never be cross with you for prioritising our children over my father. I am grateful that you’ve been willing to set aside how you feel for my sake, and for Claire’s. I appreciate it greatly, and so does he.” Cas said as he finished changing and settled down next to Dean in the bed, his scent all sweetness and love and affection.

“I’m not going to coddle Chuck. Not when it puts both Claire and you at the risk of getting hurt. Cas...” Dean frowned. “I’m gonna be honest with you here. I’ll put up with Chuck for now, granted he stays sober, but if he wants to keep being in Claire’s life...he needs to stop drinking. For good.”

“I feel the same. It is difficult for me to say, but I do. I want Claire to grow up care-free, and if my father keeps drinking and being around her...he’s eventually going to slip and she will pay the prize. I just...” Cas sighed, his scent now conflicted and sad. “I just don’t know how to say that to him.”

“He needs to know that, Cas,” Dean said, taking Cas’ hand into his. “If he’s ever going to stop drinking, he needs to hear we don’t want him around Claire if he keeps on doing it. Let that motivate him. It might hurt him, but that’s the only way I see that we can help him.”

They were silent for a moment, Castiel’s eyes swimming with the thoughts that were going through his mind, his scent a mix of emotions that were near impossible to decipher and tell apart from one another.

Finally, Cas said: “I’ll talk to him before he leaves, but only after Christmas. I think it best we keep peace for now, for Claire’s sake, and for yours and the new pup’s. We asked my father here so you wouldn’t be so tired and stressed, and I don’t think the tension such a conversation will bring will help with any of that.”

Dean just smiled softly, leaning over to lightly kiss Cas on the lips as a sign of comfort and agreement at the same time. “I can live with that.”

...

It was a few days after that that Sam arrived. This time, Dean went to the airport alone, because Cas couldn’t get the time off from work and Claire was still distracted by her Grandpapa. Or that was the excuse. Truth was, Dean kind of wanted a few moments alone with his brother, to see how he was doing, before they would only get to interact with everyone else present at the same time.

Dean sat down to wait near the gateway where Sam would come through, and soon enough, people began stepping out. Dean saw his brother among them, his tall frame difficult to miss even amongst masses of people.

“Dean!” Sam called, a smile spreading on his face. Still, he looked tired and it became only clearer and clearer as Dean approached him. He had bags under his eyes and his eyes looked bloodshot. He probably hadn’t been sleeping very well lately, and a sorrow lingered in his scent, making Dean guess he had probably cried more than once over the course of the week. Dean couldn’t even make fun of him when Sam seemed so pathetic.

“Hey, Sam,” Dean said, for once refraining to call his brother his childhood nickname as he stepped over to give him a hug. Sam looked like he needed it. Indeed, Sam kind of clung to him and Dean let him draw comfort from him and his scent, getting reacquainted with Sam’s woodsy smell in the meantime. He made sure that Sam was the first one to let go.

As Sam finally stepped back, the first thing he noted was Dean’s belly. “Hey, you’ve started to show.”

Dean smiled then, almost subconsciously putting a hand on his small bump. “Yeah. The pup’s not quite kicking yet. Should be soon, though. Claire began moving around this time when I was carrying her.”

They talked on as they headed out to get the rest of Sam’s luggage, catching up on lighter topics. Talking about Claire, Sam’s classes and Dean’s and Cas’ work. Dean could tell Sam was probably avoiding talking about Jessica and his situation with her, but he knew better than to push. Maybe what Sam needed right now was to think about something else for a while; to be able to momentarily forget and enjoy the holidays with his family.

After they got Sam’s luggage, which wasn’t much, and began heading to Dean’s car (the Impala this time, since it was only Sam and him, and it also felt like a nice way to be sentimental), Dean asked: “You hungry? We could grab a bite before heading to the house.”

Sam shrugged as he put his luggage in the trunk of the car. “Sure, I can always eat.”

Dean drove them to a diner he and Cas particularly enjoyed; where the food was cheap but good, and which was close enough to where they lived. Sam had texted him that he didn’t need a special vegetarian meal for Christmas, but Dean wanted to make sure, so he chose the place because he knew they made vegetarian meals also.

Still, Sam ended up ordering a chicken sandwich to Dean’s cheeseburger, so Dean asked: “So, you’re really giving up the whole vegetarian gig?”

Sam shrugged, but there was something defeated and sad about it. About all of him, really, but especially about this. “For now at least. It’s harder than you’d think to manage a balanced diet as a vegetarian on a student budget. I might rethink it once I graduate and have a bit more money, but for now, I need some protein.”

Dean nodded. He would much rather that Sam take care of himself first, environment second. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if Sam’s new lack of enthusiasm for vegetarianism had anything to do with Jess, as Dean knew the two of them had met in the environmentalist club at Stanford campus. Still, Sam’s body language seemed to indicate this was a topic he didn’t want to touch, so Dean didn’t.

But because he couldn’t be entirely silent, since he knew he’d probably have an even harder time getting Sam to talk once everyone else was present, too, he asked, “How are you doing, anyway?”

Sam shrugged again. “Not terrible I guess. I’m glad I got to get out of California for a while. Everyone we know there automatically knows we’re having problems and they generally either try and make us fix it, play the blame game or give me pitying stares. And I’m just tired of it all. So it’s good to get away for a bit.”

Dean nodded absentmindedly. It looked like he had been right, and for now Sam wanted to forget for a while and not have to think about the whole ordeal. Dean knew from personal experience that Sam would eventually have to face up to the situation and really think about it if he wanted to have any say in what was going to happen to his relationship with Jess. Still, he supposed he could spare Sam a few days of distraction, at least over the holidays.

So what he said was: “Well, Claire and the holidays should keep you busy if you want something else to think about. Just...if you feel like you need to talk, at any point...”

“I get it, Dean. Thanks.”

For the rest of their lunch, they stuck to the happier, lighter topics. For now at least.

...

Claire was as excited to see her Uncle Sammy as she had been to see Grandpapa and Uncle Gabe, and Sam seemed equally enthusiastic by the way he held and kissed her and let her drag him to one of her tea parties. She, along with the trip, seemed to tire him out because Dean later found Sam passed out and snoring on the couch. He put a blanket over him and let his brother sleep the dreamless sleep he had obviously been needing.

The next few days were spent likewise, doing the last of the Christmas shopping and decorating the rest of the house, among other things. Sam’s height became especially handy with putting up the higher decorations, and his strength helped with carrying home the Christmas tree they had purchased. He also helped Claire decorating it, holding her up so she could reach the higher branches. Things were surprisingly not terribly awkward even though Sam didn’t know Cas’ family all that well. But he was polite and strangely enough seemed to get along fine with Gabriel especially, making conversation with him over dinner and apparently getting to know him better than ever before so far. Chuck, he mostly ignored, though not in an obvious manner, answering questions when he was asked and making small talk once in a while. But Chuck was mostly focused on his youngest son and granddaughter anyway, so it was quite mutual in that way.

Before going to sleep on Christmas Eve, but with Claire already in bed, the adults all laid down their presents underneath the tree, making sure to share the cookies and drink the milk Claire had left with the help of her parents for Santa. They had all decided not to go to church in the morning, as none of them were really in the mood for sermons. Cas, Chuck and Sam all had certain levels of faith, but all of them were more inclined towards private worship than organised religion, so - no church.

Finally, Christmas morning rolled around, and as predicted by Gabriel, it started early with Claire yelling at everyone to hurry and wake up so they could open the presents, going as far as to jump on her parents in their bed. Everyone reluctantly and sluggishly got up and spent the next hour or so after having eaten a quick breakfast trying to shake off their sleepiness and open the presents. Most of them were for Claire, of course, but she needed a bit of help opening them, her little hands still not quite so capable, especially without adult scissors which she wasn’t allowed to handle. Besides, it was just as fun for the adults to watch her joy and unreserved happiness at something so simple.

She got a few storybooks and building blocks from Sam, a colourful dinosaur stuffed toy and sweets from Gabriel, a train set from Chuck and an easy-bake oven from her parents, all of which had been on her wishlist to “Santa”. It wasn’t all that she had wished for, but Dean and Cas had agreed that it should be enough. She didn’t seem to mind, getting to building her wooden train set right away. Chuck joined her while Cas and Sam drank their second cups of coffee. Dean had never envied them more, not being able to overindulge on caffeine himself since it wouldn’t be good for the baby.

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly and peacefully. Claire was distracted by her shiny new toys, so her parents were allowed a few moments of peace. Once the turkey was in the oven and Gabriel was there to prepare the side dishes and watch them cook, Dean and Cas took a small nap together. The rest of the day was mostly spent indulging in food and watching Christmas movies on TV. Gabriel had brought over a few bottles of wine. Dean had at first been a little worried about having a temptation like that around Chuck, but both Gabe and Chuck had reassured him that it was all right for the rest of them to drink and Chuck wouldn’t have any. Dean kept an eye out for his father-in-law, making sure he wasn’t sneaking any glasses, but Chuck excused himself as soon as he was done with his dinner to go back to play with Claire and likely also to remove himself from the temptation. Dean, of course, couldn’t drink, either, but Cas had a few glasses for the occasion. Still, he, too, made sure not to go further than that. They all had pleasant, adult conversation which was a nice change from the family talk this household usually held.

But Gabriel and Sam, they indulged in the wine. Dean hadn’t noticed it at first because it was gradual. They had a few glasses over dinner and then continued throughout the rest of the evening, until eventually they both passed out on the couch. Though Dean wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or just because they were tired. Thankfully Claire was already in bed by then, and hadn’t noticed the drinking going on over all the rest she had been doing.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that counted as ‘working through their issues in a sensible manner’,” Dean mumbled, looking over the now-snoring Sam.

“Likely not,” Castiel agreed with a sigh. “We can only hope that maybe they will be ready to talk about it properly in the morning.”

“I’m guessing Gabe will stay here tonight then.” Dean sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’ll go get him an extra blanket.”

“I feel as though someone should also watch over them for the night. They are not very drunk, I think, but...”

“I will do it,” Chuck said immediately. “You and Dean need to get some rest, and I’ll know how to help them with a hangover if they wake up. I’ve been there often enough.”

Castiel frowned. “Are you certain? You’ve been entertaining Claire all day and I know she can be exhausting...”

Chuck waved a hand in dismissal. “I’ll be fine. You can entertain her tomorrow and I can sleep in the morning.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Cas mumbled. “Come wake me if you feel like you want to sleep after all.”

“Alright.” Chuck said as Dean covered his brother and brother-in-law with blankets and put a bucket, glasses of water and some aspirin nearby, just to be safe.

Later, when Dean and Cas had settled together into bed, Dean murmured: “Well, it wasn’t exactly how I imagined it to be. Someone got drunk, but it wasn’t your Dad.”

...

Gabriel woke later in the night. Chuck looked away from the late-night movie he had been watching to keep awake at the startled gasp his son made as he woke.

“Hello, son. How are you feeling?”

“I’m...okay, I think. Mostly. I have a headache, but I don’t think I’ll hurl.”

“There’s aspirin and water on the table. I suggest you have some.”

Gabriel went ahead and helped himself. Then he noticed Sam sleeping close by on the couch. He chuckled sadly. “Guess I was a bad influence on the poor kid.”

“I rather think it’s more that you’re suffering from similar problems. Dean told me Sam’s having issues with his relationship as well.”

Gabriel chuckled tearfully again. “For me, they aren’t really issues. It’s just over, it’s done. And now I’m alone again. I feel like I made the right call, but...”

“I understand.”

“Do you?” Gabriel said. “No offence, Dad, but when have you ever been in love?”

“Oh, I have been, once. But I gave it up to marry your mother, because I was told it was the sensible, best thing to do.” Chuck sighed. “I still regret it. The only good thing to come out of me and Naomi being together is you kids.” He looked over at Gabriel. “But this isn’t about me. This is about you. Do you want to talk about what happened between you and Kali?”

“Nothing much to talk about. I guess we both just finally realised neither one of us was going to budge on certain things and that since that was the case, we wouldn’t be compatible in the long run. We’d just end up hating each other.”

“Meaning...?”

Gabriel sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be thinking about something for a while, before he said: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Dad, but I’m not actually fond of kids. Claire might be the only child I actually like. I don’t really want to have kids of my own.”

“And Kali does.” Chuck nodded, his voice soft, sympathetic and sad.

Gabriel nodded as well. “We were both hoping the other would change their mind I guess. But it wasn’t going to happen, and we both began to realise that. So we fought, trying to change each other’s perspective and minds. But...I don’t know about her, but for me the things she said just made me realise more and more that we’re just not...meant to be. One of us had to be the first one to walk away, so...”

“So you did.” Chuck finished. “You want to know what I think?”

“Why not...”

“Gabe,” Chuck said, moving closer to his son, putting a hand over his. “If there is anything I’ve learnt from my life, it’s that if a relationship feels wrong, there is likely a reason for it. And I don’t think you, or anyone, should be with someone who only likes parts of you, not all of you. As you said, it will only cause misery in the long run.” He squeezed Gabriel’s hand. “I know it hurts right now, and you have the right to grieve over what you’ve lost, but I feel like you did the right thing. You shouldn’t compromise on such a large issue, not when it requires you to be something or someone you’re not.”

Gabriel smiled then, even if it still had a sad tinge to it. “Thanks Dad. I mean...I guess I know I did the right thing, intellectually, but...”

“But it still hurts. I know. You were together for three years, that’s not something you will get over in one day. Give it time, Gabriel.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Chuck patted his hand. “For now, try and get some more sleep. If you don’t mind sleeping in the same sheets I’ve slept in, you can take the guest room tonight, since I still don’t think you should go back to the hotel in your state, and I’ll be staying here with Sam.”

“I don’t really mind, if it’s for one night only,” Gabriel said, beginning to get up. “Good night then, Dad. And, you know...thanks.”

Chuck smiled, this time without sad tinges. “Good night, Gabe. And you don’t need to thank me.”

...

Sam slept until the morning, but when he eventually woke, his hangover was much worse than Gabriel’s and he ended up rather stuck on the bathroom floor, feeling nauseous. Chuck, having done his duty, had gone to sleep and Dean was feeding Claire and himself breakfast, so Gabriel, who was already feeling better, had volunteered to watch over Sam for a while.

“You all right there, Samsquatch?” He queried as Sam heaved again.

“I...I’m fine,” Sam mumbled, the wave of nausea seeming to pass for the moment. He backed off the toilet. “But man, I’m never drinking that much again.”

“Never say never, kiddo.” Gabriel smirked, but then got more serious. “Sorry, though. This is probably partially my fault.”

“Maybe, but I could’ve - and should’ve - said no. It’s just that...when I started…”

“It was difficult to stop, yeah, I get it.” Gabriel nodded. “Dad said you’re having problems with your girlfriend? You wanna talk about it? Sometimes it might be easier to talk to someone who you don’t know so well...”

“Well…” Sam puffed out a breath, leaning against the bathroom wall, but still on the floor, his eyes reaching for the ceiling. “I don’t really know what’s going on, or if it’s more me or her. We’ve been fighting a lot more lately. She says...stuff sometimes that I find hard to let pass by. At first, I either didn’t notice, or found it easier to ignore or maybe I’ve just become more aware, but during the past year or so...I’ve found it harder to keep silent. She thinks I’m belittling her when I correct her, and it escalates to a fight and then just before Christmas she came out with that she needs some time apart to think about where we’re going. But I guess she’s not the only one uncertain if I’m feeling like this...”

“No, doesn’t sound like it.” Gabriel said, then crouched down so he and Sam were on eye-level with one another. “You want some advice?”

“Sure, I guess. At this point, I’ll take anything.”

“I’m gonna tell you the same thing Dad told me in the small hours for this morning; if a relationship feels wrong, there’s likely a good reason for that. And also, you shouldn’t compromise your happiness for someone who only likes parts of you, not all of you. And adding: if you don’t like parts of her, either, it’s probably best for the both of you to go to different directions.” He raised his arms up as a sign of surrender before Sam could say anything. “I’m just putting it out there. You know better what’s the right thing to do. Just, you know...you should maybe think about this.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, I do, I’m not offended or anything.” Sam said with a wave of his hand. “Just...”

“It’s hard, yeah, I know. But I still think that relationships are supposed to make you happy more than they make you angry or sad. And if either you or your girl can change in the ways the other wants you to, well...”

Just then, Dean lightly knocked on the bathroom door frame. “You okay in there, Sammy?”

“Oh, go away,” the younger Winchester brother groaned, though he didn’t sound all that angry. “Where’s Claire?”

“Distracted by morning cartoons. I thought I’d take a moment to talk with my little brother.”

“I should go do the same, actually,” Gabriel said, rising from the floor. Before he went, he gave Sam one last look over his shoulder. “Think about what I said, Sam.”

Then he went, leaving the two brothers alone.

This time Dean was the one to crouch down to talk to Sam. “Seriously though, you feeling alright?”

“Eh, hangover’s clearing up. It’s not so bad anymore.”

“That’s good and all, but that’s not really what I meant.”

They were silent for a moment, simply looking at each other, before Sam said: “...No.”

Dean sighed sadly. “Yeah, didn’t think so. You wanna talk about it?”

Sam was silent for a moment, thinking it over. “I don’t really know what the issue is between me and Jess. The fact that we come from different social backgrounds? The fact that she has no Omega relatives? Maybe even that her family thinks she could do better and she’s starting to believe them? I don’t know…” Sam sighed. “When I first went with her to meet her parents, her father told me: ‘Well, at least you’re doing something with your life rather than just living off taxpayer money and complaining about how badly you’re doing like most poor people’.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “They did not!”

Sam chuckled sadly. “I’m afraid they did. Now, Jess has never been so rude about it, and she even argued against him when he said that. But at the same time, she doesn’t seem to get why raising the minimum wage is so important to a lot of people. Or getting Omega pay to the same level as Alpha pay. And sometimes when we see some Omega on campus walking home, looking like they spent a night at someone else’s place, she sometimes just...says stuff. Lately, I’ve been trying to correct her, but then she tends to start yelling and asking if I think I know better than her, or if I’m smarter than her. Which I don’t really think; I just don’t like the way she says certain things.”

Dean put a comforting hand on Sam’s lower leg. “I’m sorry, Sam. That sucks. You think you’ll be able to figure things out?

“I really don’t know. My whole mind’s a mess right now, and I just...”

They were quiet for a moment. Then Dean queried: “Is there anything I can do to help?

“No, not really. This is my problem, and I need to be the one to make a decision about it. But, you know, thanks for asking.”

Dean nodded, sad but understanding.“Come on. If you’re feeling better, you should eat something. I made pancakes and bacon.”

Sam smiled at that, if a bit weakly. “Sounds great.”

...

Castiel was enjoying the morning cartoons in the company of his daughter, when Gabriel came around the corner, catching his attention with a quick shake of his hand.

“Hey, bro, can I talk to you for a sec?” Gabriel said.

Castiel nodded. “Of course.” And indicating he had understood that Gabriel meant ‘somewhere where your three-year-old daughter won’t be listening in’ (he and Gabriel had always been rather good at reading each other’s cues), stood from the couch, pausing as he went past his daughter, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be right back, Starling.”

Claire nodded, not really paying that much attention to the adults in her presence, too engrossed in the cartoons.

They went upstairs to the master bedroom, just to make sure Claire wouldn’t listen in if they talked in the kitchen. As Castiel closed the door behind himself, he queried: “What did you want to talk about?”

“Dad,” Gabriel said, getting straight to the point. “We need to get him away from Mom.”

Castiel sighed, sitting down on the bed. “I know we do, otherwise he’ll only get more and more depressed and all his problems will keep getting worse. But how can we do it? Luke tried and you know how that turned out. I want to help Dad but I also need to think about my family. I can’t put them in danger. And in any case, will Dad even dare to leave after the first attempt went so wrong?”

“Cas, Luke’s not dead,” Gabriel said, but before Cas could say anything more, he continued. “He got in contact with me sometime after the whole incident. He’s in hiding ‘cause he feared what Mike would do if he found out where he is. I told Dad to ease his mind, but Luke asked me not to tell you in case Mike came asking - like you said, you’ve got your family and Luke didn’t want to get the lot of you involved.”

Castiel was frowning, both processing this new information and somewhat ticked off over being left out of knowing his older brother was alive and safe. Then, after a while, he said in a low tone: “...But he is fine? And...well?”

Gabriel smiled then, and shrugged. “As far as I can tell. We are in contact every few weeks. He won’t tell me exactly where he is, he sees it as being too risky, but from what he says he’s found a place and a life for himself. So yeah, I’d say he’s pretty happy. I’ll let him know you know now, so you can get in contact with him, too. He needs to be the one to contact you first, otherwise he probably won’t answer.”

Castiel simply nodded, and seemed to accept this was a topic for another time. “So...about Dad?”

Gabriel nodded. “I already have a bit of a plan. This time I’m gonna be the one who will get him out. Mom and Mike won’t pay that much attention to what I do.” Because Gabriel was the Omega son of the family and therefore less likely to think up any elaborate schemes like that, in their opinion. “If he agrees to take the plunge, I’ll do what Luke was gonna do and give him shelter and a place to be till he can figure out what he wants to do with himself. ‘Cause let’s face it, a lot of Dad’s problems come down to the fact that he never really had time or chance to develop his identity into a full adult human being. He got married when he was 17, and became a parent within a year of that. The years he should’ve been figuring out what he wanted to do with his life were spent parenting us. Though I have a feeling that once he’s in a more encouraging environment, he’ll figure out where his heart lies and start writing again. I hope at least.”

Chuck’s escape  over the years had indeed been writing and stories. He had told those stories to Cas and his siblings before they went to sleep, and then written when they were asleep or at school. But as the years had gone by, Chuck had begun to write less and less, likely because Naomi had belittled it at every turn. She had questioned what the use of it was and had said she was sure it wasn’t even good. Not that she’d ever read any of the stories. Slowly but surely, stories had deserted Chuck. The only refuge he could’ve had by the time all his children had left the nest, he lost years before he would’ve needed it the most.

“Will you stay in New York?” Castiel queried. It made sense to ask that, seeing as Naomi would be more likely to find them there and make any life Chuck gained away from his marriage miserable and all his endeavours fail.

“No, I don’t think so. Not unless he insists on it.” Gabriel smiled then. “My sweets business is booming and I’m planning on opening another shop. I’m gonna be running that one, at least for a while, to get the things rolling. And where else better for me and Dad to settle in than here? He’s gonna need motivation to get his life together and stop drinking, and what better to do that than his family? It will help him to have Claire and your new pup nearby in any case, and maybe once he’s on more secure ground, you and Dean can get him to babysit. You can get some time for yourselves once in a while. I’m assuming you’ll be missing it once the new ankle-biter is born.”

Castiel took in a breath, his eyes wide and his scent filled with cautious joy. “That would be...” But then, his whole form turned grim once more. “I’ll be happy to have you both in the same city as us. However, Dad still needs to be able to keep sober before we’ll allow him to be with Claire or the new pup. I promised Dean that, and also that I would tell Dad that, once the holidays are over. I want to help our father, but...Dean is right in this. I need to prioritise the family I have made over the one I was born into.”

“And you should.” Gabriel nodded. “Especially since there is a small child, about to be two, who depend on you and Dean for everything in their lives. So let me worry about Dad for a while. I don’t have any other family, and I’m not even in a relationship anymore, so I can focus on helping him instead.” He sighed. “Damn, I wish we could have him stay right now. But I don’t have a place for us here yet, and he shouldn’t have to stay with you when Dean doesn’t like it, or in a hotel on his own where he’d just keep drinking through the lonely nights.” He paused, putting a hand on Cas’ shoulder. “If we come to live here, we can work something out with you, little by little. You can still see Dad, even if Claire can’t. We can figure out the rest of the details later.”

Castiel looked at him with a sympathetic frown. “You’re certain you cannot work it out with Kali?”

“I doubt it,” Gabe sighed, shrugging once. “Certain things you have to accept and let go. I get that. But it still won’t hurt to get away from New York for a while.”

Castiel nodded, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You know I am here for you, right? If you ever want to talk?”

“Yeah, I do, Cassie.” Gabriel said with a sad, soft smile, reverting to the old childhood nickname which Castiel for once allowed. “I already talked a little to Dad, though, and I think I’m gonna be okay. It’ll just take some time.”

Castiel nodded. “I understand. But know that the offer is open indefinitely.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. And, you know...thanks.”

...

The rest of the morning went by rather uneventfully, everyone doing something on their own, though mostly in the same space. Claire, Dean and Cas kept watching cartoons, Sam was reading one of the books he had received as a present and Gabriel was on his laptop. Chuck slept through most of the day, waking up only for dinner, which was leftovers from yesterday.

After dinner, Sam offered to help Dean with the dishes, washing as Dean dried. A thinly veiled excuse to get a few moments alone, maybe, but no one seemed to mind or pay it much attention.

Dean was fine letting Sam set the pace, both with the talking and with the washing. So he waited for Sam to be ready to say what he needed to say, keeping quiet in the meantime and merely drying the dishes and putting them in their correct places.

A few moments later, Sam came out with: “I think I should go to a hotel once we’re done with these.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “You know you don’t have to, right? That I’m not mad or anything that you drank a bit too much last night? It happens, Sam, and it’s not like it’s a pattern or a problem for you, at least as far as I can tell. And Claire didn’t see anything so you don’t have to worry about that, either.”

“I know that, though I am still a little embarrassed by the way I acted. But that’s not the reason. It’s more for me than for you guys.” At Dean putting the towel down, turning towards his brother more, Sam continued. “I don’t regret coming here and I’m grateful that I got to come - Lord knows I’d just be wallowing in my own misery if I’d stayed at the dorms - but I think I need some time alone to think about things. To let them settle in and then make a proper decision. And...I guess...to grieve.”

Which, added with the sorrow clouding Sam’s scent, told Dean that Sam already pretty much had made his decision, but that he needed some time to come to terms with it. “I get it, Sam. Do you have enough money?”

“I’ll go to a cheap hotel, and I’ll just be the one night, so it should be fine. That is, if you’re willing to have me back tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Dean said, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You know you’re always welcome here. But if this is something you need, then do it. We’ll still be here in the morning. Just let me know if you’ll be eating breakfast here or there.”

Sam smiled then. “Thanks Dean. I don’t think where I’ll be staying will make a breakfast as good as yours, so you better save me some.”

Dean grinned with a wink. “You got that right.”

...

They let the rest of the family know Sam’s plan after the were done with the dishes. Claire protested, naturally, not quite understanding why Uncle Sammy was going away already (she was the only one from whom Sam tolerated that name), but calmed down a little once Sam explained that he would be back in the morning and that him going away for a bit had something to do with some “adult stuff”. Claire never really liked that answer, but accepted it nonetheless, granted that Sam made a pinky-promise to come back. Sam agreed to that and gave her a big hug (and it was really a big hug considering their size difference) before he prepared to go, overnight bag he’d borrowed from Cas’ and Dean’s closet with him.

Just as he was leaving, Gabriel said: “You know what, Samsquatch. Let’s take a cab to the city together. I should get back to my own hotel for the night, too.”

Sam raised an eyebrow in surprise, but accepted splitting the cost of the cab ride without much argument. So, out of the door the two went. After Gabe had also given Claire a goodbye hug as well, of course.

Once they were out the door, Claire tugged on Dean’s sleeve, and quietly asked: “Daddy, are Uncle Sammy and Uncle Gabe gonna do that “adult stuff” together?”

Dean and Castiel looked at each other not sure whether to laugh, or be flabbergasted at what she had said. Because at this point, who knew? They certainly had similar problems at the moment and had seemed to enjoy being in each other’s company these past few days.

Instead of Dean, it was in the end Castiel who answered. “Only time will tell, sweetheart.”

Claire looked confused for a moment, clearly not quite comprehending what Papa had just said, but apparently then decided it wasn’t worth her time, and instead went over to find Chuck so that he could read to her before bedtime.

Dean looked over at his husband again. “You really think...?”

Cas smiled. “As I said, only time will tell. Let’s not worry about it for now. All we can do is support them the best we can, no matter what happens.” He seemed to think of something. “In the meantime, I should tell you something. Gabriel is going to try and get Dad away from Mother, and if he succeeds, he wants them to settle here.”

Dean frowned. “I’m all for that, but it doesn’t change what I think about him.”

“I know, and I agree. I’ll talk to him in a few days, I promise. Though I should probably let Gabe talk to him first.”

Dean shrugged. “Okay. I can accept that. But in that case, make Gabe talk to him before they leave so you can, too.”

“I shall. In the meantime, however...” He held out his hand to Dean. “Why don’t we ask Dad to put Claire to bed and take some time for ourselves, now that the house is slightly emptier?”

Dean grinned, taking the hand. “I think I can manage that.”

However, before they could take another step, Dean felt something. It resembled the feeling of him having butterflies in his stomach. But because he had experienced this particular feeling before and knew how it felt, he knew what it was.

“Cas...I think the baby just moved.”

Cas turned around, a huge smile spread on his face, his scent becoming all sugar and sunshine. “Let me feel?”

Dean nodded, letting his mate put his hands on his little bump, and sure enough, the pup moved again, as if knowing it was expected.

Cas leaned over to kiss Dean then. “What a wonderful late present.”

“Shall we go tell Claire and your Dad, too?”

“In a moment. Let’s enjoy this moment a while longer.”

Dean smiled softly at that, wrapping his arms around Cas, breathing him in deeply. He could definitely do that.


End file.
